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Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Cheap Eats: Pan de Amerikana in Quezon City

Today, I, together with the YES! Magazine team launched the 100 Most Beautiful Stars 2012 book!

It was my first big event for YES! Magazine and I'm so happy that it was a BIG success! Of course, just like Yummy Eats 2012, I had my dream team who worked so hard to make everything happen. It surely was a celebrity-filled day and I, myself, got star-strucked as I saw them all. Thus, here I am resting before heading to bed as I can now feel the exhaustion pouring in after all the excitement and adrenaline rush that happened today. The book will be out in a couple of days so please do grab a copy! :) I promise it'll be a fun read.

During work days, I live a very busy life. Juggling in between meetings, preparing reports and presentations, it really takes a great amount of good time management to make everything work. This is also the reason why I love going out for lunch once in a while as it works as a good breather where I can refresh my mind and treat myself to a good meal too.

It was during one of those lunch outs with a fellow food loving colleague that I discovered Pan de Amerikana along Katipunan Avenue. A is truly supportive of this blog and has been very helpful in pointing out must-try places to me. I still owe her a visit to her "hometown" in Marikina where she promised to take me around. I seriously have to schedule that in as I'm missing out on a potentially great food trip.

As we entered Pan de Amerikana, it felt like I was transported to a different world away from the modern residential area outside. Inside was a Filipino-looking al fresco garden with colorful decors displayed upside down. I had fun taking photos of the different details found such as the upside down table, the upside down Land Cruiser outside and a lot more.

As we were handed the menu, A and I agreed to order a couple of main dishes and to share this between the two of us. Since it was a warm day, I started by ordering a glass of Red Iced Tea (Php. 15). I initially couldn't believe my eyes! Iced Tea outside normally ranges from Php 45 and up. This is really a steal! I loved the sweet strawberry-flavored Iced Tea that I had two during this visit! It was so affordable you can have 10 cups and it would just cost you Php. 150! This is definitely better than refillable iced teas out there.

In fact, Pan de Amerikana's menu items are all so affordable that the most expensive item is the T-Bone Steak for Php. 170! For lunch that day, A and I first had the Pork Sisig (Php. 140) which passed my sisig standards. One thing that I like in a sisig is the generous serving of pig's ears and less of the fat and intestines. Pan de Amerikana's sisig exactly had that. Served on a sizzling plate, it's a great mix of pork, onions and what I suspect was a little serving of mayonnaise. It was delicious! Together with the sisig, you should have a cup of rice to go with it.

For our next dish, I told A that I wanted something different. She immediately suggested that I try Everlasting (Php. 40). This is Marikina's version of the famous pork embotido only it has Vienna sausage and pickle relish, both, I realized seems to be two of the most popular ingredients in dishes from this part of town. I enjoyed how tender the pork was and it was really flavorful that I didn't mind eating everything except for the peas. This was really good and one order can be shared by two. They also have a full llanera for only Php. 140.

We also tried the Waknatoy (Php. 45) which is another dish from Marikina. A similar dish to this is what we call Menudo which has pork cubes, Vienna Sausage, pickles, potatoes and bell peppers. The sauce was very rich and sweet enticing you to dig in more and more.

Lastly, we just had to have some veggies and our choice was the Ilokano Pinakbet (Php. 30). Nothing quite special here only I enjoyed the break from meat and the salty native veggies cooked in shrimp paste sauce. It was okay and once again, goes well with rice.

I really enjoyed the simple and laid-back ambiance of Pan de Amerikana. I particularly loved the washroom area with all the colorful vases and basins! I took quite a while here as I was busy taking photos of every nook and cranny of the wash room!

What a fun and budget-friendly lunch! I will definitely visit Pan de Amerikana again and on my next visit I'll make sure to buy a bag of their freshly baked pan de sal too.

Pan de Amerikana is located at 131 Katipunan Avenue near White Plains Village, Quezon City. Call them at 475-2398.